RE: eBoxit

["Ian Lowe" <ian@xxxxxxx>]

>Ian,
>I'm about to disagree with you, which is unusual.

true!

>I agree with much of what you right, but I think you're in danger
of
lumping together the "box
>shifters" who add very little to a GPL product and then charge
commercial
rates, with the genuine >"value-add" consultants, who actually
turn a
generic product into something useful for MY
>requriements.

I agree completely. Someone who uses a Linux platform to build a server
system, or application I can see has every right, legal and moral, to
keep
their own code proprietary, and distribute.

Where I suspect the legal and moral avenues diverge is when the amount
of
effort or added consultancy value is soooo small as to be vanishing,
and
appears to be nothing more than an engine to allow a GPL product to be
sold
at full-on commercial rates.

>I speak as a manager - someone who pays people to customise and support
GPL
products for my needs. I >also pay people to customise and support
copyrighted products likewise.

I'm coming into this as a consultant. :)

>However, paying someone to customise a product, and then, more
importantly,
enter into a support
>contract for it, is a VERY good way for me to proceed.

agreed!

>Does it harm the programmers who built the core product? No!

Add the element of a support contract, and my objection vaporises.
Thats
added value. The Mitel SME server model, where you can download and
install
a copy free, but the 24x7 monitoring, AV updates etc all add enough value
to
make the contract worthwhile is one I see as an excellent approach.

>Is programming "the *real* work" and support the easy bit...
No! The normal
metrics are that
>supporting a product in the field costs about 5 times as much as
developing
it.

As a life-long support tech, I agree fully!

Ian.

Yahoo! Groups Sponsor

ADVERTISEMENT

For more information: http://www.automatedhome.co.uk
Post message: ukha_d@xxxxxxx 
Subscribe:  ukha_d-subscribe@xxxxxxx 
Unsubscribe:  ukha_d-unsubscribe@xxxxxxx 
List owner:  ukha_d-owner@xxxxxxx

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.